Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk voiced strong concern Monday over reports that Republican officials and corporate interests are pushing President Donald Trump to consider legislation that would grant amnesty to certain illegal immigrants, particularly those working in agriculture and hospitality.
Kirk addressed the issue on his program, The Charlie Kirk Show, warning that any move toward amnesty would be a major misstep for the Republican Party and a betrayal of core immigration promises made during President Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“If you want to break our coalition, go and push amnesty. That right there would be a complete collapse of everything that we have worked for — everything,” Kirk said during the broadcast.
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The controversy began after President Trump stated in a Thursday speech that his administration was “working on legislation” to support American farmers and leisure-based businesses by providing relief concerning labor shortages.
The comment followed an update from U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who informed the president that farm operators were losing workers and struggling to meet labor needs.
Kirk said he has been made aware of discussions within Republican and industry circles promoting an amnesty proposal specifically for illegal immigrants working in sectors such as farming and hospitality.
“So we don’t know any details, but it looks as if President Trump might be in preliminary discussions and I can tell you that there are many different discussions that I’ve had with people and they are pushing it hard — to create some kind of amnesty proposal aimed specifically at farm laborers in the United States — but it’s more than that. It could be hotels, it could be leisure properties,” Kirk said.
“We’ve heard the arguments about this for years. Well, the crops are going to rot in the fields, they’ll be starvation.”
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He also expressed personal frustration, noting that some individuals have encouraged him to publicly support an amnesty framework.
That push, he said, is at odds with the legislation President Trump signed Friday — a major immigration enforcement bill that increases federal resources for border protection and deportation operations.
“The corporate class is deathly afraid that they might actually have to hire Americans and pay a higher wage. Somehow, other countries are able to grow food without imported serf labor. How are they able to do that? I don’t know,” Kirk continued.
“Apparently, we have built so many parts of our economy to be reliant on foreign criminal invaders that have come into this country. And some people, ‘Oh, we have to allow farmers to transition.’ No, you deport them back to their country of origin. All of them. We did not run on mass amnesty. We ran on mass deportations.”
During his 2024 campaign, President Trump pledged to implement mass deportations and restore full enforcement of immigration laws.
Kirk referenced the 1986 amnesty legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan and argued that similar approaches have failed to deliver the promised long-term political gains.
“We tried the transition argument. And we are told, ‘Hey, if we do this, Hispanics will vote Republican for a generation. Hispanics will vote right-wing for a generation.’ And Ronald Reagan tried this in 1986,” Kirk said.
“And what is so frustrating, it’s just unspeakably frustrating — we are winning Hispanics in a way we’ve never won them before because we are so firm on immigration! It was running against amnesty that got us Hispanic support.”
Kirk also criticized longtime Republican strategists who have promoted amnesty or guest-worker expansion programs, calling out political consultant Karl Rove by name.
“And I don’t want to hear about people say, ‘Well, this is how we beat the Democrats.’ We just beat the Democrats! We know how to beat them,” Kirk said.
“Don’t tell me — the Karl Rove’s of the world — ‘Well, now here’s how I beat the Democrats.’ Everything you have suggested the last 20 years has been wrong on trade, on immigration, on the deep state, on the administrative state. Everything you have suggested on the Iraq war, on foreign policy, it’s all been wrong of the Karl Rove’s of the world.”
Despite his concerns, Kirk said he remains confident in President Trump’s instincts and suggested the mention of amnesty in last week’s speech may have been exploratory rather than a settled policy direction.
“This is a red line,” Kirk said.
“Amnesty is a red line.”
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